China's retail sales in the first three quarters rose 15.1 percent year on year, or 17 percent after deducting price factors, to top 8.97 trillion yuan (US$1.31 trillion), the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday.

The volume of retail sales topped 6.10 billion yuan in urban areas, up 14.8 percent year on year, and 2.87 trillion yuan in rural areas, up 16.0 percent.

In terms of sectors, sales in wholesale and retail rose 15 percent in the first three quarters, and expanded 17.4 percent in accommodation and catering.

Among consumer goods, furniture sales rose 32.3 percent and automobile sales climbed 24.5 percent in the first three quarters from the same period last year.

(Xinhua News Agency October 22, 2009)